Kate Kelso is more than a friend, she's a kindred spirit, attorney, protector, guiding light and beacon. She continues to impress and inspire me as we grow closer as women, professionals, and independent-minded people. It's not often that a person continues to engage with her clients in a material way. Kate Kelso does so with grace, growing as a professional and person. Kate is comfortable in her own skin, with an openness and passion she exhibits to anyone who crosses her path. Trust is fickle, and fragile, I place my trust in her and her advice - she has never disappointed. Kate, to her own detriment, would go as far out of her way as she physically could to help a stranger. Sometimes women like this are called push-overs; often they become punching bags, steam rolled by other people. Frequently people like Attorney Kelso become byproducts of other peoples' needs, people who take too much and give too little. However, Kate has stepped into her own strength, prioritizing her clients and their needs. I have the utmost confidence that anyone who retains her will never regret it - and be lucky to have her. read more

Updated 9/2025 So this attorney. Four separate parties including myself have all filed Small Claims cases against her and 3 have all won. The 4th case is going to be heard. And still another party filed a case against her late September 2025. Also she is being investigated by the State Bar. Justice is being served. read more

I had my will started with Kate Kelso 2 yrs ag. I thought she was professional. Well, I called her and her number was not in service. So what do I do? Nothing. I hope there are not a lot of clients who she left hanging. read more

She took our $5000 retainer and did nothing. She was all talk in the beginning but then just dropped everything. Do not use.

Kate does not seem to be in business any longer and did not honor the agreement of contacting me to complete my will and trust after taking my money. The portal she sent me to complete to start my will and trust is no longer active. I guess I'm going to join the ranks and file a smalls claim case. Very sad and disappointing that you can't even trust the attorneys. read more

In my opinion this attorney is a criminal. The worst service I have ever experienced from an attorney in my 84 years on this planet. I am a disabled, 84 year old widow on disability. Kate kelso took 18,000 from me, did not give me a receipt or copy of the signed agreement until months after I gave her funds and never performed any work for me. I had to file complaints with the CA BAR, the O.C. Bar, the O.C. District attoney's office, Elder Abuse Division, the attorney general, the Better Business Bureau and file a law suit against her. DO NOT use this attorney. She is dishonest and does not perform. She is never in office and all her ph numbers disconnected. Vernell E. Orange County, CA (949)537-9430 read more

Worst experience I have ever had. She took payments for services she never provided. Now phones are shut off. Gone silent

Kate was an amazing lawyer, she was very knowledgeable and responsive. She helped me tremendously with my divorce case and various legal issues. I definitely recommend Kate for anyone. Thank you Kate for being so helpful and supportive throughout my journey. Kate is not only a great lawyer but she is also a very wonderful person and a very down to earth person. Thank you Kate for the great experience and your kindness. read more

I have the MetLife Legal Plan and got a consultation with Kate. Right away I felt a connection with her. She understood my needs. I was in a bind and needed a trust. She explained everything in terms that I can understand. She has great attention to detail, and very thoughtful. She knew how much my loved one meant to me. I will continue to go to Kate for my other needs. Thank you Kate! Your thoughtfulness through this difficult time meant so much to me. read more

My husband and I were looking to set-up a family trust using our insurance from MetLife. We had our initial consultation with Kate and she set-up a follow-up appointment the following week. The initial consult wasn't that great but we wanted to get started on the trust right away. She pretty much just asked if we had any questions and gave a little explanation of the benefits of a trust. Prior to the follow-up appointment she send us 2 engagement letters. One which she described as "bare bones" was covered by insurance and another one with a few more docs for $3500. The bare bones one was sufficient for us so we signed the engagement letter. When our follow-up appt came around she was a NO SHOW! And what's worse is no follow-up at all afterwards. We have emailed her several times for another appointment and left a message at her office. No response at all and honestly a waste of our time as we want to get the trust process started. I feel like she didn't think we were worth her time since we didn't want to pay $3500 for more docs. We were hoping to find an attorney we could have a relationship with for future legal needs but with this service definitely not! So unprofessional and don't know how she even operates a business. Definitely do not recommend. Don't waste your time like I did. read more

I had a pretty bad experience here with estate planning and ultimately terminated my service. There were efforts to reach out to address my issues after I decided to stop working with her, but at that point, I just wanted to work with another attorney. I was working on a trust here for a total of 5 months until I finally decided to terminate. My case wasn't out of the ordinary and I was being cooperative about my case. I had to be the one to keep reaching out to them about next steps because they would constantly go silent. At the 3-month mark of working with them, I finally got my in-person signing appointment, however it got postponed a total of 4 times. - The first time was because the attorney was going to be out of town. - The second time was because the attorney was sick. - The third time was because I asked if I could get a draft before my appointment because this was already taking a long time, and I didn't want it to be prolonged even further if there was any miscommunication. I was told that my appointment would have to be pushed so they could deliver a draft in a week. I thought it was weird that they needed an extra week to get me a draft, considering my initial appointment (that was rescheduled) was two weeks prior. Shouldn't a draft have been ready by the date of my first appointment? Nonetheless, I accepted as I felt that it was responsible for this reschedule. However, I did not receive the draft on the date I was promised. I followed up with them after a few days and I was told the attorney was still working on my trust. I voiced my concerns at this point. They said it would be ready by my in-person signing appointment and that they would get me the draft to review before, but they never did. So, the third reschedule was pointless - The fourth time was because their printer wasn't working. I was offered a Saturday appointment, and was told that the attorney would come in despite the office being closed on Saturdays. The attorney did not show up to the Saturday appointment without notice. I called and left a voicemail and ultimately left. Compared to 5 months and counting at this firm, I completed my estate planning within two weeks with another attorney. The administrative staff is super nice and friendly, but this was a very frustrating experience. Hope this helps someone! read more

Kate did a Living Trust for us and we are so pleased with it. She is a wonderfully brilliant attorney. We are so glad we chose her to do our Trust. Bette K. read more

Does not answer your phone calls, show up to appointments or arrive at court after you pay for the retainer. Look at all these reviews! This is something she does time after time. read more

My consultation with Kate was great! She made me feel like I could win my case I'm with my ex! After the initial consultation EVERYTHING went south!! Charged me $2500 to text a few times. Cancelled on our appointment and when we had a phone appointment it was 2 minutes (not even kidding!) I paid her 3k and still have not been refunded my remaining balance. Keeps saying it's the bank and now ignoring my texts. Didn't go to court with me, and when asked if she was going to go, her response was, "if you want me to." I really wanted to rate her higher but very unprofessional with responses. Save your money! read more

We had a great experience in working with Kate Kelso. She is very knowledgeable and does a fantastic job in explaining complicated matters.

Highly Recommend! A++++ At first I was puzzled as to what type of Trust I needed for my special needs daughter, once I met with Kathleen she calmed me down and told me I know exactly what you need.... And she sure did! I needed to make sure that my daughter be protected for life. Kathleen did a fantastic job, she is knowledgeable and understanding. Thank you so much! We are forever thankful... read more

In 2021 I had Kate transfer my properties into a trust do to prop 19. Prop 19 was voted in in 2020 that says when I die my children would have to pay tax on the new value of my property over 1 million. If I transferred it to them prior to Feb 2021 then they would not have to pay the increased value upon my death. In 2022 I got a notice from the county that they reassed 2 of the properties. One I paid $435k was assed at 1.1 million and one I paid $349k at $880k. I called Kate and she ignored my calls. I filed an appeal. I ask her to attend the appeal. She said she would attend via zoom. I told her the appeal board does not have zoom. She said she would call me the day before the appeal by noon. At 12:20 when I has not heard from her I called her only to learn that she had blocked my calls. I had my daughter call her from her phone and the assistant picked up right away. She said Kate was busy and would call us back. Well that never happened and Kate never showed up for the appeal. It has cost me over $11,000 for her not to do her homework on transferring the properties into a new trust. Very unprofessional to block my calls andnot show for the appeal. I would not trust her or reccomend her to anyone!!!! read more

Kate Kelso is knowledgeable, resourceful, and solution-oriented in every way imaginable. I have a very unique case regarding a limited conservatorship over an estate and she was more than willing to provide resources and advice with utmost care. I'm confident that she can serve all of her clients well in their legal needs. I've spoken to a lot attorneys and she has what many others lack: genuine concern, confidence, and the willingness to explain things without the necessary jargon. Highly recommended! read more

Kate is absolutely incredible! After using here to help with some trusts for my kids I asked her to help me with some business contracts. She over delivered at a very fair price. She is my go to lawyer. read more

Kate Kelso is amazing! She is responsive, knowledgeable and detail oriented. She cares about her clients & works diligently to get your project done. Her personality shines and you can tell she loves to help people. Our meeting with her was fun, educational & speedy. We will definitely recommend her to family and friends. Thank you Kate. read more

Kate and I worked together at my real estate brokerage, Hill Realty Group, for a number of years where she was my legal consultant. There she always provided me with sound legal advice, and her wide range of experiences were helpful in the day to day challenges of real estate. Although she has been thriving in her own firm now, I know I can still call upon her with a question and she helps me without hesitation. Kate is extremely good with people. She always treated clients and staff with respect, patience, and kindness, and over the five years or so we became great friends and confidantes. She has an emotional intelligence and vocabulary that makes negotiating with people seem easy. Kate is one of the smartest people I know. She learns quickly, thinks before she speaks or acts, and cares deeply about the people around her. It's not just her education that makes her intelligent, she's always striving to learn more. I've recommended her to other people I know as an estate planner and stand behind that recommendation 100%. read more

I was referred to Kate through a good friend of mine to work out the details of my family's trust. With everything going on my family thought it would be best to revisit what was planned out 10 years ago. A lot has changed since then and my mother thought it would be best if assets were moved around to better support my sister and me. Things can get very emotional within my family and Kate was extremely patient. Kate is extremely knowledgeable and I don't see us planning anything without her. I highly recommend working with Kate. read more

Although I didn't retain Kate since I had a change of plans, she was pleasantly responsive and knowledgeable. She quickly referred me to a loan offer she knows personally to answer specific "title" questions, then followed up directly after. I would totally retain her in the future! read more

I am all about reviews especially when I enjoy the service the business provides. Even though it took a couple of weeks to get everything done (bc of the back and forth of questions kate had and I didn't have answers for) I appreciated the fact that instead of paying everything upfront kate gave me the option to do 2 payments. I choose this law firm first because of the 15% off discount I found on their website which I've never seen an attorney have before and of course the reviews and experience she had! btw Thank you for making my trust so cute! read more

K. Kelso Law - Inside of my trust looked :) - Estate Planning Law Near Me - Tustin, California

This law office is literally a scam. My wife found her through the Metlaw subscription she has through her company. We had a complex international conservatorship case and talked to a few different lawyers. All the legitimate lawyers told us they couldn't handle it. Fair enough. Kate's office told us that they could but that we had to pay out of pocket for an initial consultation. Red flag #1. My wife was desperate so she agreed to this even though Metlaw said this should be covered. We also had to pay at the time of appointment, not the day of. Red flag #2. After she cancelled our first meeting (I was shocked she actually rescheduled it), it was clear she had no idea what she was doing. She knew way less than what I googled in about an hour. When we told her BofA wouldn't take the POA we had signed by the conservator, her suggestion was to try a different branch! The only thing she suggested that hadn't seen on google was to get a power of attorney signed by the incapacitated person. Holy smokes! Red flag #3 and its on fire. Was she suggesting we do something illegal? She was vague enough that I can't say for certain but it definitely wasn't going to work. It was clear she didn't have any ideas that didn't involve us going to jail for fraud. After about 40 mins of the hour that we paid for, she wrapped up the meeting and claimed she would make a bunch of calls to other lawyers and would call us back on Monday (we met on Friday). Of course no call on Monday. I called on the Tuesday and her receptionist acted super nice and said that Kate was busy but still making calls. The receptionist also said that she would be checking with Metlaw to make sure we were covered to do the proper legal work to get an actual conservatorship set up in California and would call me back. No call from the receptionist or Kate. That was 3.5 weeks ago. My wife also called several times in the interim and at this point, they won't take any calls. We got scammed out of $150 for this consultation which should not have cost us anything because of the Metlaw program. My wife was desperate and they sound super nice on the phone. The worst thing is that they pretend they'll be doing more work but its clear they're not doing anything and just want you go to away. That wasted time while we waited to hear from them and kept us from finding a real lawyer who can do legitimate work. At least we're only out $150. I'm writing this review to hopefully help others who might end up in a lot worse situation. I know Yelp reviews are hit and miss but look at the length and level of detail from all the negative reviews whereas all the positive ones are short and totally vague. I'd be shocked if any of the positive reviews are not shill reviews. read more

Kate Kelso is an amazing estate planning attorney. She truly helped my case and made it as smooth as possible. She is knowledgeable, reliable, trustworthy and very personable. I would highly recommend her to anyone! Thank you again Kate! :) read more

It took several weeks to find the right attorney to represent my interest in dealing with this divorce. When I found Kate and was greeted with a hug it meant more than just someone representing me in a court of law. Kate Kelso is more than attorney who understands the law. Kate takes on the role as your partner during these difficult times with a spiritual understanding to what I am going through. Kate also has a keen eye for art and that goes quite well with me. Looking forward to this being over so we can be friends....or maybe BFF's. read more

My initial conversation with Kate went well, however after that it took me calling back to find out what the next step. Since then I have set up two appointments to speak with her about some questions that I have and haven't received a call either time. Very disappointed. I was expecting more after the reviews I read and our initial conversation. read more

Kate was amazing at helping me finalize my estate planning prior to my wedding. Her thoroughness, attention to detail, communications and professionalism are unmatched, not to mention the level of energy she brings to the whole process. I would absolutely recommend her and her team's services. Thank you Kate!! read more

Kate Kelso is an incredible power woman attorney. She will get every detail taken care of to protect you and your loved ones! She has looked out for me from a professional and personal level on many occasions and I highly recommend Kate as she is fair, honest, empowering and takes care of business! read more

Kate has been such a trusted resource to my family. She helped us navigate very challenging times with compassion and good counsel. She put us at ease and gave us a flat fee which was one less thing to worry about. I'm grateful to have Kate in my corner and highly recommend her to anyone. read more

Kate made the chore of drafting my estate plan so easy and enjoyable. She put my mind at ease right away and is truly an expert in her field! I researched many attorneys before going to Kate and she didn't disappoint. I had no stress and am so thankful for her! read more

Kate was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable in the estate planning of my father. As his eldest daughter I wanted to make sure his affairs were in order especially during this scary and tumultuous time of Covid. Kate did everything we asked of her and even made helpful suggestions for things we had no idea we needed. She always took time to answer our questions and assuage our conversation concerns. She provided us with clear and concise answers and got everything completed for us in a quick and timely manner. As a court reporter myself, I work every day with attorneys. Kate was a true pleasure to work with and I have yet to meet an attorney that I would recommend over her. I highly recommend Kate kelso law for all Your estate planning needs! read more

I needed a Power of Attorney document, and it was done to my satisfaction quickly. The initial consultation with Kate Kelso was quick and easy, and she patiently listened to my situation. It was a delight working with the manager Charlotte as well, and they made the process so much easier for me. I'm really glad to have found them. read more

I contacted Kate Kelso based on reviews of her work and I have to say that I was not disappointed. Within a matter of weeks Kate prepared a complete trust package for me based on my individual needs, exceeding my expectations at every call. There were no hidden charges and she handled my questions with compassion and expediency. I have been handing out her cards to my family and friends! Thank you Kate for putting my affairs in order. read more

Kate Kelso is a remarkable, hard-working lawyer. Not only do her and her team have quick response rates, but they are also attentive and empathetic. 10/10 would recommend K. Kelso Law for your Estate Planning needs. read more

I have been working with Kate for some time now, and it has been nothing but a joy. She takes her work seriously and really takes the time to know the client rather than treating them like another ticket number. She is knowledgeable about her field, and her experience is truly one of a kind. No one particularly enjoys planning for challenging times, but she makes the process pleasant, smooth, and stress free. read more

Kate was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable in the estate planning of my father. As his eldest daughter, I wanted to make sure that his affairs were in order especially during this tumultuous time during a pandemic. Kate was able to do everything we asked of her and even made suggestions for things we had no idea we needed. She always took the time to listen to our questions and concerns and got back to us with clear and concise answers. As a court reporter myself I work with different attorneys everyday and have yet to meet one as kind, informed, and helpful as Kate. I would highly recommend her for estate planning and I will also be using her again in the future for my own estate plan. read more

I was referred to Kate by a friend who had worked with her on an estate plan. My older brother recently inherited funds and needed a plan. He's not the easiest to work with as he tends to procrastinate and not want to deal with things. Kate was amazing. She was sensitive to his needs, both financially and personally, and created a well-structured and complete estate plan (including will, trust, DPOA, health care directive, etc. etc.) that he won't have to update for a long time. She kept things moving along even when he failed to return anything! She's a pleasure to work with, gives you a fair price upfront, and does exceptionally good work. When my brother went to have the paperwork notarized, the notary commented that he rarely saw such clear and thorough work! Kudos to Kate. read more

Kate Kelso proved herself not only to be an outstanding Estate Planning Attorney for my mother, but a kind hearted lawyer whose main concern was doing the right thing for her client. Her insight and understanding played a significant role in helping my mother to plan her legacy, only to be surpassed by her knowledge of the legal issues which had to be taken into consideration. After our exceptional experience with Ms. Kelso, my husband and I are now in the process of using her expertise to devise our own plan. I cannot recommend her highly enough. Look no further.....Kate Kelso is a lawyer you can trust to handle your affairs as though they were her own. read more